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Best Treble Booster?


DylanWilde

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So I am now thinking about getting a vintage-style treble booster, figuring it might help tame all the bass from my old Traynor as well as add some interesting grit and old-school tonal enhancement to my setup.

 

So what would you guys recommend? The HBE Germania looks pretty awesome, and I found a place selling them for $105, so it seems like a great deal. What about something like the BBE Freq Boost, also about $100? I don't want to go too far past that in terms of price, but any recommendations would be awesome.

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I managed to get a HBE Germania off of ebay for $75 shipped. Great pedal. Unfortunately, the amps I am using at the moment don't take it too well, but having used it with some of my friend's amps I can honestly say that it is a great treble booster that works well with most amps.

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Check out the Phoenix Custom Electronics Ranger, Hartman Treble Booster, Analogman Beano, Throbak Strange Master, and Divided by 13 Dyna Ranger. I was in the market for one recently and heard good things about all of them. They're all over your budget new but keep an eye out here and at TGP because they pop up used pretty regularly.

 

I found a Hartman at TGP and am pretty happy with it.

 

If you want to buy new I'd go for the HBE Germania.

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It depends a lot, I think, on what you're planning on using it for. If you're using it for your main tone, I suggest researching each one individually, finding out the differences in their sound, etc. If you only want to use it for solos, however, I'd just go with the HBE germania. Well priced and with a good rep to boot, serves that function perfectly.

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I think I would be using it to sculpt my main tone, probably leave it on all the time with a more subtle setting.

 

On that note, the Dyna Ranger looks amazing, although the price tag makes it sort of unreasonable. Btw, What about the Germania makes you consider it more of a solo pedal?

 

Any experience with the BBE?

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Oh I wasn't considering it more of a solo pedal. I was just discussing how if I were to use a treble booster to sculpt my main tone, I would look into it as much as I do a normal overdrive pedal and come to my own conclusions. But, if I was just looking for a treble booster for solo purposes, I wouldn't care as much about the particular tonal nuances of each one, rather its overall functionality as a treble booster, and would thus pick the germania just based on its reputation around these parts. Just me rambling really.

 

Since you want one to sculpt your main tone, good luck on your quest!

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Oh, okay, cool. Thanks.

 

Has anyone ever heard of this?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-LS-The-Boost-Box-Clean-Treble-Boost-Guitar-Pedal_W0QQitemZ130230563564QQihZ003QQcategoryZ41416QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

2553_1.JPG

 

The thing I noticed about it was the lack of a germanium transistory, but rather a "JFET" design with cascading gain stages. What tonal effect would that have in comparison to germanium?

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I like this one:

 

CCTB.jpg

 

IMO - it's ridiculous to spend really big money on a TB. All you are paying for is minute differences in overall tones and expensive is rarely better.

 

If you want flexibility, the Java Boost sounds really good in all 3 modes.

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I would personally choose the Divided by 13 Dyna-Ranger. It's a Germanium treble booster that can easily cop the Dallas-Arbiter sound, but it's been internally wired to work with negative ground (read: nearly every other pedal ever made) power supplies without cancelling signal and it has a five-way switch to select a mix between treble and full-range boost.

 

It's a little bit expensive, but it's an excellent pedal, as well.

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You're wrong
:wave:

 

Not based on the MI Audio clips... :rolleyes:

 

That doesn't sound anything like a treble booster. It sounds like a clean boost with the gain maxed - there is a HUGE difference between them sonically.

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Thanks for all the replies, it's been really helpful. I think I am leaning toward the HBE Germania the most, especially since the newer version incorporates a 3 way switch in the "lo-fi" (vintage) mode.

 

But, I've actually been thinking about whether I can achieve similar effects (minus the effects of the germanium) with a graphic EQ. . .Does anybody have a frequency chart or know exactly what the frequency response of the traditional treble booster is? What exactly is going on there in terms of frequencies, so I can know what to imitate with my graphic EQ.

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Thanks for all the replies, it's been really helpful. I think I am leaning toward the HBE Germania the most, especially since the newer version incorporates a 3 way switch in the "lo-fi" (vintage) mode.


But, I've actually been thinking about whether I can achieve similar effects (minus the effects of the germanium) with a graphic EQ. . .Does anybody have a frequency chart or know exactly what the frequency response of the traditional treble booster is? What exactly is going on there in terms of frequencies, so I can know what to imitate with my graphic EQ.

 

 

You can get a similar sound freq-wise with an EQ, but you won't get the growl you'd get with the additional gritty gain on tap.

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